So here’s the stats…

127.5 million people, 6,000 islands, 13.3 million people in Tokyo alone.

We arrived peak hour in Tokyo (yes, where people are employed to push you onto an already packed train) and by 7.00pm had negotiated Narita Airport, Japan Rail, Shinjuku Station (a city itself) and the local metro…legends! All made relatively stress free by the constant flow of bubbles and an encouraging neighbour on the flight over and our AirBnB host’s 16 pages of navigation instructions. 

We met Oski the next morning and headed to the first of many temples, Sensō-ji in the beautiful Asakusa area. You pray, you pay in Japan, starting with the entry fee, next the insense, the blessings, the wishes, the prayers, the happy life and traffic safety charms, another blessing because my first one was shit and I had to tie it to a post and leave it behind. Then there is the exit through the gift shop followed by streets and streets of trinket sellers. 2 hours later, a lot lighter on the pocket but feeling very well blessed, stinking of insense, back on the metro, carrying bags of shiney things that evidently we need.  Happy days!

Completely fascinated with all the plastic food displays in the windows, accurately showing the exact contents of your meal. Favourite food concept so far is salad in a mason jar, second favourite puffer fish gills for flavouring your tea, third is vending machines (quite literally every corner) this genuinely takes all the pressure out of ever having to get in the kitchen. Just pop your coins in and presto, an evening meal for two. I’ve cooked every night since we’ve been away, Tony is a very lucky man!

One spectacular lunch at the tsutsuji fish market consisted of red tuna, fatty tuna, fish roe, sea urchin, eel, scallops and squid all served raw, Tony is still licking his lips. I had a mango.